Note (12.3.13): For details of the legal challenge to the bedroom tax on behalf of two disabled adults, see http://wearespartacus.org.uk/disabled-mount-legal-challenge-bedroom-tax/ and for full information and further links see http://wearespartacus.org.uk/bedroom-tax/
In April 2013 the new under-occupancy rules will come into force for tenants in the social rented sector (SRS) who claim housing benefit. This is meant to bring entitlement to housing benefit for social housing tenants into line with the entitlement for tenants in the private rented sector (PRS). Despite the many differences between the two tenures, and the fact that most under-occupying SRS tenants are living in the same homes in which they have brought up their families, ’market forces’ are to be imposed and tenants are being warned that they will have to pay a percentage of their rent for each extra room they are deemed to be under-occupying: 14% for one bedroom, 25% for two. In real terms this could be anything from £14 to £40 per week.
The Government have admitted that they know there are not enough smaller properties within the SRS to enable people to downsize – in contrast to provision in the under-regulated PRS where there is an abundance of (expensive) choice. They know that any saving for the nation’s housing benefit bill depends, paradoxically, upon people not moving, staying put and ‘absorbing’ the benefit cut. Indeed, if everyone downsized to the PRS, the housing benefit bill would be substantially higher. They claim the change will incentivise people to work. But they also know, as made clear by the DWP’s own Equality Impact Assessment, that over two-thirds of the households affected include a tenant with a long-term illness or disability.
Despite fierce lobbying by all interested organisations for an exemption from the benefit cut for people in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance (Support group) and/or Disability Living Allowance/Personal Independence Payment, the only current exemption is for a minority of tenants who can prove they require constant overnight care. For everyone else the ‘tax’ (benefit cut) takes immediate effect on 1 April 2013. Those affected include: people who may already have significant adaptations (some paid for out of their own pocket), or who may be on the long waiting list for adaptations, or who may only need ‘occasional’ overnight care, or who may need an extra room for bulky medical equipment, or couples who need separate rooms due to disability or health difficulties, or people with mental health conditions such as agoraphobia, or people with degenerative conditions who may soon need that extra room for a carer but not quite yet, or people who will end up in residential care if they have to move away from formal and informal care networks, or people with cancer, lung disease, liver disease or other life-limiting illnesses who cannot face the added upheaval of moving house at the worst time of their life, or sick and disabled people whose home has become their whole world; all will face a cut in housing benefit and risk rent arrears.
Disabled people have to cope with benefit reductions and higher costs all the time, but this cut is somewhat different, as rent simply has to be paid, no matter what, to avoid arrears.
This policy has never really been about sorting out the housing crisis; housing associations have long-established routes to assist people to downsize. The current shortage of properties means the downsizing programme will take years to accomplish, with or without the benefit cut. Tenants are being penalised for a situation not of their making. An exemption from the bedroom tax for sick and disabled people - those in receipt of DLA/PIP and ESA (Support group) – would require relinquishing 300 million of the expected housing benefit saving. To put that into perspective, 300 million is equivalent to the current total Housing Benefit bill for just over half a week.
The Government’s response to these arguments is to say that disabled people can apply for discretionary housing payments (DHP’s). Local authorities are to be given extra money specifically to help disabled people whose homes have been significantly adapted – and by significantly adapted, they have said they mean specifically for wheelchair users. However, these payments are discretionary; there is no right of appeal if a payment is not awarded, and although payments may be awarded for an indefinite period, it is more common for discretionary housing payments to be awarded for limited periods, often 12 weeks. It is particularly important to note that, despite increased funding from the Government (intended to help only those in homes which have been adapted for a wheelchair user), there will be no funds to help most of the 420,000 disabled people affected by the under-occupancy rules. So this proposed ‘solution’ provides no security of accommodation for disabled people, who need that security the most.
In the recent debate in the Lords’ Grand Committee, one Peer said he wished he’d realised the ‘bedroom tax’ was such a significant disability issue during the initial passage of the Welfare Reform Bill through Parliament. Let’s not let them forget that it still is.
Sue McCafferty produced a briefing (‘Closing the Door on the Law’) on this topic for recent committee debates on the Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2012 in both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. In the briefing, Sue points out that the Government’s own Equality Impact Assessment acknowledges the bedroom tax has a clearly disproportionate effect on sick and disabled claimants; she also explains that the policy fails to account for the different needs of disabled people and breaches human rights law:
Closing the Door on the Law (Parliamentary briefing on disabled people and the ‘bedroom tax’)
The transcription of the debate in the Lords’ Grant Committee is available at:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201213/ldhansrd/text/121015-gc0001.htm
and the transcription of the debate in the Commons’ First Delegated Legislative Committee can be found at:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmgeneral/deleg1/121016/121016s01.htm
yes hannah who is my charge with2 bedroom,has full housing benifit
if we pay this new bedroom tax we will be under what gov says we need to live on.
Not sure how I am going to cope I have Fibromyalgia depression and agarophobia, moving for me is not an option at present so somehow I must pay up. Its all just added stress
we have disabled children .the specialist has stated they can not share. Social workers have said the same. we wont be affected just yet but one day we will. with the cuts we wont be able to pay this tax. we cant work as have no one to care kids. I can see people with disabled children ending up inpoverty. it will end with kids in care.
Hi, I’m a Green Party District Councillor I know of at least one disabled person who occupies a 3 bed adapted bungalow following the death of his partner last year and will be affected in April. If you contact me I’ll put you in touch.
Duncan
It seems I am to be affected by this. Disabled, live alone, council bungalow, received a booklet letting me know that council tax is being changed and that because there’s a spare bedroom (containing exercise equipment I use to keep legs strong, etc.), an extra 314 will be added to rent. ‘Exceptions will not be made for disabled people or those living in adapted properties.’ me
correction;
It seems I am to be affected by this. Disabled, live alone, council bungalow, received a booklet letting me know that council tax is being changed and that because there’s a spare bedroom (containing exercise equipment I use to keep legs strong, etc.), an extra £14 will be added to rent. ‘Exceptions will not be made for disabled people or those living in adapted properties.’ me
This is pretty awful but is made worse by the discrimination against people claiming housing benefit that exists in the private rented sector, and the no dss rules etc. It’s nigh on impossible to find a room let a lone a flat if you claim housing benefit, and landlords don’t want to take the risk and this is even if you have great references. Thus, with cuts to housing benefit many people are becoming trapped, and unable to pay the shortfall in their rent due to HB cut and unable to downsize even if they want to. I its pretty disgusting.
It just goes to show how little understanding George Osborne et Al have of the private rented sector and the pressures facing people who have to claim housing benefit.
Clearly, thousands upon thousands are going to be affected. This is a national catastrophe waiting to happen.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/antibedroomtax/
hi, i am a member of a group, there are 2500 of us so far, ALL going too be affected by the council tax in april,if you need any of us we will def speak with soliciror ,barristers thank you
My daughter will be affected through no fault of her own, she is quadriplegic, lives in adapted accommodation through no fault of her own…a spinal tumor at 19. She went into hospital at 21 walking ( a last ditch attempt at removing it) and came out in a wheelchair. Steroids to control have left her with multiple illness. There is no where to accommodate her for miles, not even residential. In times of so called personalisation in care, I wonder how many more who are like her, struggling to remain independent. I ask you is it fair on any genuinely disabled person ? I agree a crisis of national proportion.
I am disgusted. Please know that the world is watching and these sorts of shenanigans are leapt upon by other countries to justify their actions.
You’re not just fighting for yourselves.
I too am Spartacus.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this work.
Sincerely,
Appalled in the arctic
I have fibromyalgia. .. Hypothyroidism arthritis. .. Sleep apnea. .. With back pain… I am awaiting a tribunal and am worried sick. .. Now I will also be fighting to keep my home as I will under occupy by one bedroom. … I am very frustrated scared and tired and exhausted trying to stay alive
I’m affected live in a (so called) 2 bed flat with my partner; going to be subject despite needing the room for my carer when my other half works nights
My next door neighbours have a three bed town house, the children have all grown up and left home. They are both on benefits as she has a number of medial problems he also has a medical issue so neither of them work as in paid employment but they do have the grandchildren that they look after during school term time and most of the holidays, how is this going to affect them ? will they have to pay out of the benefits they receive or would they be forced into down scaling. No way can they pay and as for moving it would be disaster for them. I wouldn’t be happy for them to have this worry on their hands they arnt well enough to cope with this what help could they get if any ? do you have any ideas on this cos I don’t they are both in their sixty’s any upheaval would be detrimental to their well being.
Hi there i have a variety of health conditions,long term chronic illnesses, they vary and are are frustratingly cruel and progressively debilatating (fibromyalgia,ibs,rls,cfs,depression,etc) i have one room which i need for a carer and im on the bottom of the scale in benefit that this dictatorship govt give and im going out of my mind with more worry and stress which makes all my illnesses all worse and its morally wrong to sday the least, please please would you help us through this and take on these cruel heartless daylight robbery thieving politicians
Yours sincerely
If you have a carer overnight you should be fine; that is currently the only exemption from the under-occupancy rules.
Looks like I will have to starve and freeze too, I had to rent 5yrs ago , lost 2 bed bungalow due to relationship break up. single now so an only be offered bedsit or such like via council. This does not take into consideration that I have been a married woman for 35 yrs – worked for twenty – brought two children up . have grandchildren – a pet dog. Normal sort of person……Fell ill with sudden onset M.E 16 yrs ago….Fibromyalgia and suffer Depression. My little house ( rented ) was the only private rental I could find that would afford me the pleasure of a small garden….and the pleasure of my grandchildren coming to stay……….How much more punishment can this government dole out to sick and vulnerable people.
The carer overnight exemption only applies to those people who receive care overnight on a continuous basis i.e. every night. It does not apply to those of us who only need occasional overnight care i.e. after a hospital stay or recovering from a virus etc. There is a Discretionary Fund to assist those that fit the very stringent criteria, but what they don’t tell you until you apply; is that the fund will only help for 12 weeks! They don’t say what you’re supposed to do after that…
Absolutely right, thank you. One of the problems with the discretionary fund is the time limit, the other is that there’s no right of appeal if help is granted, as it’s discretionary. Not at all secure enough to give disabled people peace of mind etc.
I am a chronically sick and disabled parent, we currently live in a four bedroom house, waiting for rehousing. Into a three have my own room, and profiling bed due to my illness, i am double incontinent, and need help moving. I am in bed 24/7 s.s and gp both say i need my own room, i havent been out my bedroom for over 4 months, we are reliant on benefits, we allready go without heating oil, so that my beding can be washed and dried as soon its soiled…. If we dont get help covering rent on a three bedroom property then we probably will have to make other cuts … But i dont know what we can cut..
This is a tax on the poor and vulnerable and is pure evil . My wife and I have lived here peacefully for twelve years .It took us years of putting up with moronic people next door to find this peace.Come April we will be FORCED to move out.Where to we dont know because there just arent enough houses available .I have a long term illness and need our spare bedroom to sleep in to give my wife a break from me mooching all night because i am in pain.We are devastated at having to move.We have NOTHING to look forward to in life.As it is we dare not even put the heating on and are scrimping on food.Now this . this is just one kick in the teeth too much.We are worried sick.Where will we go? How will we start again ?
Having to buy new carpets etc. We are settled here .Sleep well Mr Cameron.
Ive just recieved my letter in the post about the Bedroom tax and because I have 2 boys under the age of 16 it says they are able to share a room, So ive just called the council, To ask where people stand in my situatuation and here what they told be, I have 2 kids same sex they can share bedroom, I mentioned one my kids has special needs and wont cope with sharing a bedroom due to his difficulties and he is statement through Authorities for Special needs, The council told me that it makes no difference of to what his problems are he can still share a bedroom, And I will have spare room and have to pay 14%, even tho I dont get full amount of income support (£27 a week) I am expected to pay the extra. Something really needs to be done as this is going to cause alot of stress and problems for people and could separate couples and families due to stress and debt. And surely this will be that Me and others will be below the required ammount the law states we are supposed to live on.
Mr CaMORON has at least FOUR homes I believe .I don’t suppose the bedroom tax will bother him.
Fed up with this bedroom tax , so many people will be negatively affected & once again it is the poor & vunerable who suffer!
I look after my Special needs Grandson in my home as his Mum needs a break as she is bringing him up on her own , so I have him some weekends & school holidays etc , or just whenever I am needed as my daughter does get stressed sometimes as a single working Mum with a special needs child with no outside help or support apart from myself which I LOVE to do but will NOT give up my Grandsons room as he needs it when he comes to stay but I WILL struggle to say the least as am already in hardship & fuel poverty etc but this will not help us function as a family for sure!
i have not shared a bedroom with my hubby for several years,i have UC, hubby has asthma & Osteoporosis. i have been informed that i will have to pay at leaast £21.40 bedroom tax per wk, i live in a 3 bedroom house.
This tax can and will only bring greater poverty/hardship to the most vulnerable and already struggling, . The government has implemented this tax, because they know there is not enough smaller accommodation to rehouse everyone who is classed as being under-occupied, they are guaranteed this extra revenue, as long as they take it of the poor, sick & disabled, they do not care.
Will we be forced to live like battery reared hens, squeezed into the smallest accommodation that can be found for us all, or will cardboard cities be set up for us all, this is another STEALTH TAX designed to tax the poor. i contacted my HA and asked if they will be freezing rents next year, i was told no, so my £21.40 is calulated on this years rental costs. it will cost me more than £21.40 next april as the amount is a percentage of rent which will increase next year
total disgust white washing people to go against those with a spare room or rooms and more disgust people falling for there crap am fuming as mr or mrs ?who live in there home or so called social housing for 40 plus years are told to go or pay up
what can be done i am effected by the room tax i got rehoused 2 year ago all compensation money went to carpet the new one and replace furniture just to be in this situation but tell you this i would down size even tho i dont agree that we should have to cause the goverment blew there money when they sald previous council houses if they would leave the elderly disabled or any one that could DIE or suffer trauma and this will happen how dare they say that we are stop in the house in situation getting better they should look at some 307000 houses empty no not mistake *****307000 empty i want to know were to protest
2.jim sanderson Says:
October 29th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
if we pay this new bedroom tax we will be under what gov says we need to live on.
Jim i have already looked into this as i will also fall below the poverty line,i posted the same question to inside housing website http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/tenancies/social-tenants-to-accept-bedroom-tax-penalty/6523345.article?PageNo=1&SortOrder=dateadded&PageSize=50#comments
most of the posters work in housing departments,
i recieved this answer
legally this subsistence level also allows deductions to be taken from it, think of court fines for example, and the coalition has amended regulations to say up to 40% can be decucted from this minimum subsistence level each week. So in short you have no legal basis to challenge this on the amount of deduction…
i have down sized from a 3 to a 2 in the last year the council did not metion this. when they let us move to a two bed i borrowed a lot of money from family as this place was in a bad state. all my life i have paid rent i have paid for a house outright poss twice over with rent i have paid . what realy gives me the hump if you have a child and work over use to be 16 hours you get enough money to buy you home with family credit what a joke i cannot belive it. who is on our side i have not heard anyone standing up for us. david cammron in other countrys they take the poor in the street and shoot them. your the same killing us in a hidden way. i have just tried to work all my life so has my partner we are hard working people just out of work at present. cant afford a gun just put pill in post
I am on my own and suffer from severe anxiety, sleep apnoea, arthritis and tendonitis.
The local council gave me a three bedroom house four years ago because of my anxiety.
They know they can’t rehouse me because there are no avaliable downstairs one bedroom places that take a dog.
My dog is part of my therapy.
I asked if I could exchange with my nephew because him and his partner are wanting a bigger house and are willing to pay the bedroom tax but the council said no.
This government has no idea how the other half live.
My anxiety levels are getting worse, I’m so worried that I wake up at night crying about what will happen.
I am Agoraphobic and suffer from anxiety and depression . I have been like this for more than 20 years now I can’t leave the house and We (my wife and I) have two spare bedrooms, but i sleep in one of those bedrooms due to my continuous tossing and turning also irregular hours. The other bedroom is my hobby room, I go uttlery mad if I did not have something to do.
The goverment have not really thought this out and really looked at who this affects. I am a fully qualified electrician and would love to return to work but can’t get more than a few yard down the road without panicking.
HELP
My details have been sent to your contact email please consider myself when trying to fight this ridiculously ill thought out tax
lived in my 2 bed for 20 years am trying to downsize but nothing available will not be able to pay bills and get food if i have to pay the bt
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hi i live in 3 bedroom house which has been my home for 23 years l have brought 3 boys up here now there is only 1 left so i have 1 bedroom for the bedroom tax im not well so my son looks after me everyweekend my mum and dad both in there 90 have come to stay im so worried every day i feel sick does wonder how david caremon would feel if he hat to give up his home
I have 3 special needs children (all Boys) and live in a Housing Association property and I claim Income Support as a Carer & Single parent and Housing Benefit, etc. We live in a 4 bedroom house and need all 4 bedrooms. Two of the boys are twins with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and ADHD. We know from experience that them sharing a bedroom will have not only us up all night but our neighbours too so moving into a 3 bedroom house is a recipe for ‘voluntary’ homelessness (officially it would be counted as our fault because it would be as a result of complaint about night time noise from our neigbours but in reality it would be due to beig forced to live in accomodation too small for our needs and my twins’ special needs). One of the twins can’t even share a pot of pens at school where he is on his best behaviour let alone a bedroom with his twin who he fights and squabbles with anyway (they are very much a ‘can’t live with each other, can’t live without each other’ pair). Both receive Higher rate care DLA. Both have sleep issue although one has sleeping tablets (but they only help if his brother leaves him alone which won’t happen if they are in the same room) and the other has been refered to both the sleep clinic and CAMHS because of difficulties with sleep. They can’t share with their big brother either- he needs his space from them for his own sanity and too revise for his exams and do homework, they won’t leave his stuff alone unless he keeps it out of their way, and they don’t seetle for sleep early enough to let him get to sleep so he can manage to cope with school, exams etc. Basically, if they say we only need a 3 bedroom house they are saying it is OK for me to share a bedroom with my 15 year old son (which is clearly not right). I can’t move into the lounge/living room as where would I put my stuff out of their way, my bed would be wrecked (and so my back would become disablingly bad again), and so on. We can’t use the kitchen as a lounge as that would mean the twins running around, leaving toys all over the floor, etc where I am busy trying to cook (high risk of a nasty accident). We can’t have the TV etc in their bedrooms (they’d never sleep). So where do we use as a living room? We need a living room so some how we’ll have to manage in the hall or on the landing, a corridor type space, if we have to downsize. Since that won’t work we’ll have to manage to pay the bedroom tax at all costs except the car as without that the twins won’t get to vital medical appointments and essential medicine will be withdrawn as a result.
This is a discrmity tax as if you rent something IE a car
You are given a upgrade if the one you want is not available
This upgrade is at no extra cost. So if a smaller home is not available
It’s down to the council. If not by law it’s by ethicks
I had my housing officer out a few weks ago, and when iasked him if would have to ay as i have my daughter to stay when I a in severe pain and unable to care for myself. He said this would make no difference, i will have to pay for y other bedroom. I asked if he could arrange for me to be rehoused, he said you and the rest of those wanting a 1 bedroom house would have a very long wait and have to pay in the meantime!! So I cant win either way!! It is so depressig
I have just received my letter saying that because I have a 2 bed flat I am going to have to pay or move. I have learning difficulties,sleep Apena, depression and anxiety issues. I like where I am living I have made it a place I am proud of. My mum and brother helped me to have it decorated to what I want. I don’t want to downsize it means that I have to get to know a new area learn my way around again and its all stressful for me. I don’t think its right that we should have to pay more either. I also have 2 cats that are my threapy. When I was planning to move out of supported shared accomodation all I dreamed about was having a flat and my own cats. I feel like the government are shattering my dreams.
at the moment my twins are at home but the council sent me a letter saying id have to pay or downsize as i would have a spare room – they had my twins down as a married couple (erm?). My son is leaving home soon and then i will have a spare room which ive been waiting years for. I currently sleep on the sofa downstairs due to my husband needing the full bed to get some sleep without much pain. Hes disabled and has chronic pain and having me in bed with him is too much for him – its like he cannot abide anyone at his side and the slightest touch causes more agony for him.
Ive slept on the sofa for the past 12 years and have been looking forward to having my own bedroom at last – it would be more convient being upstairs next to him too as currently he has to bang on the floor when he needs assistance and i then go up and help him. He needs help to/from the toilet and virtually everything else so im up and down the stairs about 4 or 5 times a night.
Luckily his illness is a slow progressing one but its one that causes intense pain. He will end up in a wheelchair soon. We got assessed for a stairlift but our house is too narrow to accommodate one so the ot said they would see about doing us a ‘through lift’ that would go from the walk in cupboard downstairs up through the floor to the small bedroom – i would still be able to use this bedroom to sleep in as i only need a single bed. But, that option is now out of the window. The ot said they have done through lifts before and council usually allow them to when needed.
Now, we will have to decide whether to move to a two bedroomed house until my daughter leaves home and then move to a one bedroom then, losing all the money we have used on making our home lovely and accessible for my husband, along with needing all the adaptations being done in the new properties (would they do it twice more, i doubt it) – with me carrying on sleeping on the sofa at night and making me have a bad back/shoulder, etc. Or do we allow ourselves to be blackmailed into paying the money and be too skint to afford anything else?
Ideally we dont want to move – all our memories are in this house, we have lived here 26 years and spent a lot of money on it and the garden – a lot of the furniture wouldnt be able to be dismantled and put back up again so would have to be left behind for the council to smash up and tip (what a waste and would they buy us more?) I wouldnt be able to do the move myself and obviously my husband cannot help me – i suppose my son would have to take a day off work and lose pay to help me (would they reimburse him? i doubt it), along with all the other fees associated with moving. I also wouldnt be able to take my plants, shrubs, mature trees out of the garden as most will die if moved. My paving and sheds would have to be left behind too.
This is totally overwhelming me and this is before we begin on the council tax we will have to pay too. I wouldnt mind paying the council tax if we didnt have to pay the bedroom tax too.
Why are this government picking on the disabled? Its so unfair, they have filled us to the brim with asylum seekers needing homes and now they cannot house everyone they are picking on the disabled.
Hi, thank you for your comment. It’s a very good example of the trauma that will be experienced by people in your situation as a result of this bedroom tax.
We are working on a fuller report on the subject; would you be willing for us to use your situation as an example in the report, to show how devastating the policy will be? Obviously we would use it on an anonymous basis.
Let me know what you think,
Jane (wearespartacus co-ordinator)
I have mental health problems that affect every aspect of my life. I have no friends, I have nothing. I can’t manage or cope with moving the same as other people who are able. Why am I being treated as if I can?
My previous accommodation was a one bedroom flat that I had to move out of because it was unsuitable and affecting my health. One bed room flats have a lot of disadvantages. I couldn’t even have a tiny area outside where I could get fresh air where it wasn’t a busy street.
My quality of life is much better now but I will face having to move back a situation that I couldn’t previously cope with because I have a spare bedroom that my family can use when I need support.
I have been trying to build a life I can handle and now they want to take it away from me. I’m not moving from my HOME, because I simply can’t. Even if it means I have to finally say goodbye to this earth.
The hurdles feel endless.
I am in the same situation as every body else..I have fibromyalgia which affects every muscle in my body from the neck down to my feet.I have problems with my spine which sends electic shock type symptoms through out my body and loose all control…at times just turning my head causes more severe pain in my spine and the pain goes right into my chest area and am left unable to move at all as the pain intensifies if i do..I can be stuck like this for hours on end..Even simple house old chores are chalenging ,when making calls or answering the phone is painfull in my hands and fingers they start to cramp up.I continuasly have to keep swapping hands just to use the phone.I have to have medication at bedtime as my body will not relax on its own enough to sleep.Lack of sleep and stress adds to my suffering & this is a major blow on a grand scale. I also suffer from dizziness on a regular bassis ,i cant look up as it sends my head spinning, i have to have my head up high when in bed ,again due to dizziness.I have to lay in bed perfectly straight before going to sleep,if my draw my leg or legs up slightly the electric shock type pain i suffer from down my spine kicks in which causes me to kick out due to control loss..My medical conditions cost me my marriage 6 years ago which was hard to cope with.We had 3 Children when we moved into my current accomodation 8 years ago and was moved here because of noisey neighbours partying nearly every night and for 2yrs was constantly being kept awake at night..My home a 4 bed propery & is my castle i go to bed knowing i wont be disturbed and love the area. As with most people my kids apart from my youngest daughter who is 18 yrs old flew the nest annd started families of their own…I have 2 spare rooms and got the dreaded letter in the post today 14.11.2012 saying that from April 2013 i will have to pay £22.00 per week from my income support..Im devastated and dont know which way to turn.The worry and stress is going to impact me from all angles ,my health will be severley affected by the stress and was already causing sleepless nights when i first heard about it, but even more so now after receiving this letter as it brings it into reality..I dont want to move , this is my home i feel so happy here its quiet, peacefull and the neighbours are great..What does my future hold, nothing but uncertanty and a lot of pain, suffering and anxiaty .I am so Worried its untrue..how am i going to even move , where will i get the money to pay for the short fall in rent let alone removal costs, a new home will require carpeting as we have wooden laminated floors through out, i will need new curtains & decorating of which i am unable to do. Where will i get money from for deposits if i have to rent privatley .The rent on a smaller private land lord propery could well be higher than the £94 my rent is at curent with the housing association..This part of it does not make sense ,the housing association has no spare 2 bed houses in this location ,if i move away i have to find new doctors, and move away from my family, .This government will send many of us to our early graves ,its not fair all we want is justice in this and the rights to live out the rest of our lives as best we can & as comfotable as we can..Thank you Mr Camoron youre f*****g coalation government sucks, big time..Youre time will come and lets hope you never have to suffer like we have been made to do..Sorry!!!! I dont swear often but this makes my blood boil …..
we like others here are going to be affected by this devastating tax. life is hard enough as it is without this latest kick in the groin. i have had mental health issues since my dad hung himself when i was 12 and my mother went to pieces and having my life turned upside down at such a vital age on top of long history of depression and mental health issues on my fathers side of the family i feel i never had a chance or break in life. i left school at 14 due to social phobia and agoraphobia issues i’ve been claiming forsat sickness benefit which changed to incapacity benefit ever since i was 16 in which i tried to do a carpentry course at collage but the old social problems and depression/anxiety forced me out of the course and i visited my gp who signed me onto the sick immediatly. jump forward 20 years i am now almost 36. i had a letter today stating the wife and i will be affected by the bedroom tax in april 2013. i’m so angry and worried about this. seems like one worry after another. a outrageos decision from atos healthcare in 2009 ment that i recieved a letter on christmas eve 2009 stating i was to be signed off the incapacity (yes xmas eve can you imagine) then i had to apeal and worry for over ten months being paid a lower percentage in my benefits and worrying to death waiting for the appeal. the appeal was successful and it felt that finally there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. almost straight after the private house next door had a leak in the kitchen which is right next to our living room wall. the watter all seeped in to the council house the wife and i occupy. all our laminated flooring was runing a saturated also our sofa was ruined and other items of furniture. we contaced the local council and the letting agenct who rent the private house next door, the smell was unbelievable the mould was everywhere. the council have been usless apart from replastering the wall which was completly ruined with salts coming through and plaster falling off. when we had the florring taken up underneath was a carpet and that had to go aswell. then underneath that was old asbestos tiles that were broke and a health hazzard. it took the council over a year to remove the asbestos tiles. we had to live with the health hazzrd for that long and the depression and anxiety of living in what seemeed like subhuman conditions all in the meantime the council were getting full housing benefit payed to them for us t live in a hell hole. the reason i mention this incident which seems unrelated is because now the cheeky dwp and council are implying a benefit tax to live in this situation. i still have not been able to save to get new florring and we have to live with horrible cheap vinyl tiles the council put in our living room to replace the asbnestos ones. we cant claim from the private house because the owner and agency are basicly saying take us to court and prove it. the council aint aiding us in a case against them despite the fact we are council tennents;. i don;t know how we are supposed to get the money together for new flooring. i was lucky with aquiring a new sofa we purcased a second hand one for 80 pounds but florring is more expensive. i cant get contents insurance because they say it’s high risk because we have had 3 floods here since 2001 from the house next door because the drains are problematic there. we are at the end of our tether and feel subhuman now. i claim incapacity benefit and dla low rate mobility middle rate care. my wife claims carers allowance for me as i require constant care. i recive specialist therapy from the local mental health team on regular basis and they agree our situation is making my mental heatlh much worse. even taking 45 mg anti depression pills aint improving my mood and now this.
we live in a two bedroom house with no children. i sleep in the spare room because due to my insomnia depression and anxiety when i sleep i wet the bed on a regular basis and have to sleep with rubber under sheets. my wife cant share a bed with me for sleeping purposes and be exposed to that it is embarrasing enough for me as it is. my incontinance problems have been recognized by my gp for around 20 years or so yet under these new rules that wont count for nothing and we will have to pay 14.5% of the rent to live in a house which is like an hovel atm through no fault of our own. it’s going to be impossible to save for new flooring now well maybe 10p a week for 200 years or something. at least i claim certain benefits for being ill though, if we were on jobseekers i don’t know how we could pay this tax. knowing atos i will be signed off again at my next assessment and may not be so fortunate at the next appeal and i worry everytime i hear my letterbox in case it’s a assessment form the anxiety is that bad. the likes of cameron and osbourne ain’t got a clue how it is to live with chronic depression, agoraphobia, anxiety, social phobia and so on that on top off all the bad luck we have had with the floods and being dismissed by the council all through that issue makes me feel like giving up right now. all i can think about is whats coming next from these idiots in charge
sorry for the long post. i needed to vent about this and some other issues thats ruined our lives in recent years
I am so, so sorry to hear about your situation. It is truly awful. I only wish we could help, but we can’t; we can only campaign and do our best but the Government doesn’t want to listen. We still have to try, because for people in situations like yours their policies are truly devastating.
Jane
Bedroom Tax community on Facebook the “original” support guidance and information resource Bourne out of well over a years researching this subject
https://www.facebook.com/groups/btukhomeswapnetwork
But please Mr Cameron please explain the reason for a low wage person or even a person living on jsa or esa should we be able to afford £14 or £20 a week for this bedroom tax?
Your Government has done nothing but put strain and worry on the poor low income families around this country its absolutely disgusting, also this so called ( Prime Minister didn’t even get voted in by the public and he as now demolished everything that poor people need help with, he comes from a rich family back ground and as never lived in poverty and he as no right making the less off to suffer like this its utterly disgraceful.
It must be a very desperate time for him and his Tory party because believe you and me he’s going to be chucked out on his ear come next election term…
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I am not sure wether many on here know that not only are they cutting housing benefit they’re doing the same with council tax benefit too..From what I have read they will only pay 80% of it and like housing benefit we will have to find that too.This information seems to have been kept quiet for some reason, Just google council tax benefit cuts and its their in black and white…They’ve got us from all angles.
..Further more i have also read that those on DLA and mobility allowance will loose it come April..Again benefit shake ups mean that when the new laws come in you won’t automatically be entitled or change over to the new disablement benefits and entitlement stops regardless of wether you were awarded it for life.. you have to go through the new more rigorous medicals..I read on the Internet where it says, just because you have a limb missing that will not be a automatic entitlement to the new benefit..
This government stinks and when the riots come and crime goes up because people are struggling to live and feed the kids on what bit they get, watch the government pass the blame onto something else..The cost of crimes ect will far out weigh what the government are saving in benefit cuts..They have clearly not thought this through. Local businesses will suffer too, people won’t be spending as mutch due to the fact they havent got it to spend..so the knock on effect starts there..
I think if you live on your own or as a couple and have a 2 or 3 bedroom house and only use one then I think it’s fair to charge for those extra rooms or down size ,a family could live it that house and use all the rooms
To above poster – but is it justifiable to charge the less off £45 – £60 a week from the only money they can survive on???
Yes i do agree that we all must contribute to helping out with social funding, but why does Mr Cameron have to ask for so much money from the less off people?, it’s very obvious that he is out of touch with how the poor are sruggling each week, i think its pure lack of understanding from a rich privileged person like Mr Cameron? or maybe he really doesn’t care?
To Di above.
I think a lot of people agree that family sized houses should be for families.
The problem is that there isn’t enough one bedroom places to re-house everybody.
I am a single person in a three bedroom house, which the council gave to me because of my severe anxiety as I have mentioned on my first posting on here.
There are no local one bedroom downstairs places that will take a dog, the nearest place to me is about 8 miles away.
I need to be near family, friends and familiar places because of my anxiety and there are thousands of people in the same boat.
It’s not our fault that the council can’t re-home us but we are the ones that will suffer.
I asked the council what would happen if I didn’t pay the bedroom tax and they said as soon as I was in £50 arrears, which will only be a matter of two weeks, they will take me to court and not offer me any houses.
If I do pay the bedroom tax and I’m offered a house then I wont have been able to save any money to move house.
I’m sure that everybody knows how expensive moving is and even worse at how stressfull too.
So I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t. :·(
the bedroom tax is rubish becouse larger houses eldery people are living in but they not going to charge them bedroom tax age 61 and over.
@ di. i would also like to add that some peoples circumstances leave them in an impossible situation in which they didn’t contribute to. for eg the house i live in is two bedrooms, my ex partner and i were offered this property by the council after being on the waiting list for a long period and during this time the ex and i were worried sick with the threat of eviction from the landlord we were renting of privatly at the time because he and his wife were planning on moving back into the house we were renting and selling the second home they owned which is where they were living at that time. the area i live in is very rough and not a nice place to live at all but we had to accept or be made homeless. at the time of being awarded this property the ex and i were living with our year old autistic son so we had no choice but to accept this house i live at now. we moved in in 2000-2001ish in 2003 the strain in our relationship between me and my ex and an autistic child ment we split up for good. after the split my ex moved back close to family and i stayed on at the property. 2 years later i remarried and as much as the wife who is younger than i by nine years would love to start a family we feel that due to the severity of my mental health it wont be a good idea in the near future or maybe not at all
as a poster wbove stated there aint enough proertys in this srea or most areas to downscale and the government know this and are making us a easy target for extra revenue. the sick and disabled seem to be being hit the worst by this shambles we call a government ad it’s gonna keep getting worse for us. i agree with another recent poster here that crime rates will rise dramaticly and in very poor areas like where i live in the south wales valleys it’s gonna be crime central. theres already drugs everywhere where i live, mindless violence. i’ve had my house under siege at 3am by yobs in the past and it’s scary. i can see this country heading into total bedlam in the near future. so called broken britain wont be nothing in comparison to what the future may bring i’m afraid
Liam Says:
October 31st, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Mr CaMORON has at least FOUR homes I believe .I don’t suppose the bedroom tax will bother him.
Quite right Liam, and as one of the suggestions on the letter we all received was to take in lodgers, I thought I’d ask Mr.Cameron if I could have one of his spare rooms !!!!
To above poster, yeh we should all send Mr Cameron a letter asking for one of his many ( tax free spare bedrooms? its just sheer greed that he knows the low income families will need to find what bit of money they live on to pay this ridiculous tax???
He has now backed out on mansion tax, ah now i see why…
I have just been informed I will have to find £14+ next year towards my rent, my present accommodation is a 2 bedroom flat with no dinette before the change I will be converting one bedroom into a dinette, I believe this to be something that should be both legal and acceptable if your property has no eating area already. In the absence of one bedroom social accommodation I also believe that the Government is also forcing people out of social housing into more expensive private sector housing that will inevitably cost the taxpayer more because as soon as people get 1 bedroom housing they will be awarded full benefit though the property will be costing more in weekly rent.
My understanding is that number of bedrooms is worked out to a formula so you can’t get around the rules by converting a bedroom into a dining room, so I’m not sure that will work. Totally agreed it’s all nonsense since one-bedroom flats in the private sector are more expensive. Sadly, this Govt is not known for its competence!!
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This is of course a discriminatory tax aimed solely at people on benefits. If as claimed the Government where truly interested in sorting the under occupation in the social sector they would be charging even those people who are not on benefits and yes that is every under occupying family who lives in a “Council” owned property. But of course we all know that the ConDems have little if any interest in anyone claiming benefits. This tax is totally designed to make the gulf between the have and the have nots even wider than it already is.
one way out for me in April. six feet under, i have no help or advice and was left disabled by a doctor operating on me & ruined my life, left without bowel and bladder control and in chronic pain, i fought this for nearly 8 years and they covered it up, i only just got ESA because i had medical papers, but dreading the next medical without my own GP’s support. i also have mental health issues which have left me house bound and to cope with the pain alone!! no help!
As far as i am aware, we are all EQUAL. So if this undermines Disabled peoples Human Rights, then it must infringe upon able bodied peoples rights also.
I’m sure you’re right, Graeme. What is important to remember, though, is that equality is not the same as treating people all the same. It’s about striving for equal outcomes – and disabled and sick people often need more consideration and help because they are already disadvantaged by their impairment or illness. Its also a concern that well over half of those tenants to be affected by the Bedroom Tax are disabled – using the DWP’s own figures. So this is definitely having a disproportionate effect on disabled and sick people, who are more likely to be dependent on informal social networks and need separate bedrooms for impairment-related reasons. It’s a bad policy for everyone, not just disabled people, but disabled people in general will find it much harder to cope with it, particularly as many can’t ‘earn more’ to pay the extra.
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This Government do not understand its people at all. We are the very bones of the UK and we need to stand and peacefully fight what is going on that is why I have created a movement. I hope you will al be interested in joining as we are gaining grounds each day and educating people all the time about how hard life is for all of the vulnerable in the UK today.
My name is Jessica McCarnun I am a mother of 4 one being brain damaged, I have severe problems with my health and this means I am unable to work even though ATOS thinks otherwise with damaged nerves in my head, My hair falling out in places because of the strong meds I take and having to have platinum embedded in my veins on occasions to improve my circulation as my body is knackered. No employer wants me so I am putting what I have left to use and helping where I can. That is why the very first Personal Petition was born
This is a page on FB where you can load up your personal story either privately or publicly and these then will get printed and peacefully marched together with thousands of other entries to Downing St. The aim is to get coverage in the media which we are doing. To educate the masses in the UK who demonise us out of ignorance and reading poor twisted news reports. Plus to hopefully pressurise the Government into protecting the Vulnerable in the UK
I hope you will come and support us as I think your work is fantastic and please Google my name to see I am a genuine Mum on a mission x x
Here is my group x Solidarity
https://www.facebook.com/groups/492600724103642/
i am disabled my self and most of the time i am bed boundi have a cronic back injury from a accident and i also suffer from agraphobia, i have a three bed house i live with my 18 year old daughter who is also my full time carer.
i also have a eleven year old son who is autistic and stays with his dad durring the week and comes to me at the weekends, obviously he has his own bedrom here, i am never going to move in the forseeable future as my agraphobia stops me from leaving the house, so this goverment expect me to pay out of my £74 per week £17 per week, in which i can not afford todo, so my plan is this get rent arrears get evicted they will then have to house me else where apropriate for my needs as i am dissabled, they will then put me in a care home what will cost the tax payer in excess of £500 per week, yeah now times that by about 200,000,00 people i can see how they are going to save so much money.
This is part of Camerons end of year speach :
“When people say we’ve got to stop our welfare reforms because somehow it is cruel to expect people to work, we are saying ‘no’. Getting people into good jobs is absolutely vital, not just for them, but for all of us.
NO YOU IDIOTIC TWATT WHAT WE THE PEOPLE ARE SAYING IT IS CRUEL TO FORCE THE SICK, TERMILLY ILL AND DISABLED INTO LOOKING FOR WORK, WHEN IT IS CLEAR BY ALL EXCEPT TORIES AND ATOS THAT THEY ARE TO UNWELL TO DO SO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To sue above
Rich boy Cameron has got his head so far up is own arse its just unbelievable? he’s already been voted the worst PM by the British public and should never of gotten into no 10, full stop.
I hope Mr DC gets whats coming to him…
This situation with the bedroom tax is totally sick. I have been disabled 2 and a bit years now. I was located into a two bedroom house which was modernised to my needs. Now i find that i have to pay extra just to keep my home. Why? My spare bedroom is used for my medical needs. I just dont know what to say…..im gob smacked at the whole situation. In the next election, i’m going to vote ukip again as the two other parties only seem to be in it for the money and themselfs, and while the rich are getting richer the poor are getting poorer. CAMERON says that he needs to save ex amount of millions…..if that is the case, why doesn’t he and his cabinet take a pay cut for the year and live on the same as the rest of us. I bet he soon change’s his mind. They need to come and stop at my house for the month just to see how the other half live with very little money to live on. What would they say or do if we all stood together and never paid? They couldn’t kick us out of our homes as we are disabled and as someone put above, there are not enough 1 bedroom houses to accomodate all of us. Rant over, untill the next time.
As a disabled person myself, i am totally disgusted with the way the government can run/rule our lives. Whatever happened to our human rights? People in prison still have there human rights!! so whats the difference or are they discriminating against people with disabilities? I can bearly afford to live now so whats going to happen when they do introduce this so called bedroom tax? I was a fully functional person before i had my stroke and would love to go back to work but am unable to, and why did CAMERON change his mind about “mansion tax”? why are they not being penalised. Like the comment above, as the rich are getting richer the poor ar getting poorer…….and stamped on big style. This bedroom tax is going to destroy peoples lives. Just read the comments above to see.
Major draw back. Is that significantly adapted means for a wheelchair user. What about the rest of us with adapted homes?? It’s a joke. Also, people in the South, where rents are higher, are going to have to pay more. As it’s either 14% or 25% of your total rent. I have to pay, 25% of my £115 a week rent. I am Disabled and have Bipolar. There seems to be no protection for people with mental health problems.
I have lived in my HOME for over 21 years. Spent a fortune on it and my garden.
I couldn’t cope with packing/moving. Or, afford it.
There are no 1 bed adapted properties anyway.
And I have animals. What are we supposed to do with them?? Have them put to sleep?
The DHP. Again a joke! Only for the short term and a high critea to get it in the first place.
This is the most barbaric thing ever. a direct attack on the poor and most vunerable.
There ARE plenty of others ways for this government to raise money.
But, they are not interested.
How many people will have to die, before they realise they are destroying people.
A choice between starving or paying your rent.
If you don’t pay and get into arrears. They can evict you and you’l be homeless.
They won’t help you then, as you will be classed as making yourself, intentionally homeless.
I work in nhs mental health,,, and over the past couple of years since we got this government, I have become so overworked, stressed and hopeless seeing the cruelty imposed upon people in my care by the welfare shambles..this bedroom tax is possibly the one to finish me.. I saw someone recently whose mental health is such that I dont know if se will come out of this alive. I feel so powerless. For every small step in someones recovery, invariably a welfare change knocks them down..do not know how much longer i can go on fighting this tidal wave.
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The “Bedroom Tax Team” called to my severely disabled son today. My son has Muscular Dystrophy and cannot even lift a cup, he has carers staying overnight. It is unlikely that he will live another 5 years.
There are 2 bedrooms in his specially adapted bungalow; many of these adaptations he paid for himself. Some of the questions they asked were unbelievable! It feels a bit like the Nazi’s calling on the Jews. Perhaps it would suit them if they could move all these misfit into a ghetto and forget about them or starve them with the subsistence allowances they grudgingly bestow. With the savings they make they could perchance furnish a few gas chambers.
I am in no way being flippant in making a comparison between these teams of council clipboard holders and the Final Solution of the Nazi’s. We are feeling very threatened and frightened. My husband died at 46 from this insidious disease, my son is 42. He served his country in the Gulf, Northern Ireland, Bosnia and many other places of conflict.
My daughter also has Muscular Dystrophy, she is 45. She has not as yet had the visit, I can hear the Jackboots as I write.
That puzzles me a little, Dot, as the only exemption from the bedroom tax is for someone who needs an extra room for continual overnight care – which your son needs. I hope the council was aware of that!!
So sorry that your family has been hit by such a very cruel condition. These worries really don’t help in an already dreadful situation
The decision may well be that he can stay. The questions just felt so intimidating and pointless. One in particular was just idiotic. My son has sliding doors to accommodate his rather large wheelchair, he was asked if he used them everyday? Or do you use your hoist and wheelchair everyday? Really! Couldn’t they have at least found out what his condition is?
Do what the rich did with window tax brick up the window and the door this is a good loophole and will save you money
People who are disabled like my husband has become victims of the most evil government of all time the tax is aimed at the poor only I feel we need to get a case before the European court of human rights as it’s a form of forcing the poor to move out there homes onto the streets David Cameron is a silver spoon idiot, what they pay a disabled person there now taking back in tax yet the rich get a £120,000 tax break per person Cameron has lied no Peron on disability gets £500 a week
You have a fascist state…heil Cameron
You need an unbiased forum that does not veto comments…
There needs to be a huge class action for these people on pensions have ( unless disabled from birth) paid National Insurance all their working lives with understanding part was being used for health and part put aside for their future possible need…either as disability or retirement pension.
Where has this portion gone???
Has there been misappropriation of funds?
There are grounds for a massive class action in court….and in the European Court for this Human Rights issue and possible Government theft.
It is no wonder ?cameron wants a referendum to leave the European Union…it would give ‘Carte Blanche’ and remove the Government from the overseeing European Union.
Please look at history…you have a rerun happening in the UK…..
Please note that similar measures are enacted in the USA…in many cities it is now illegal to feed the homeless….
Please everyone ‘go figure’ this out…
How will they survive??
A nation that divvies against itself, attacking its weakest members is truly in a sorry state.
Please do not focus only on the tragic and sad stories you are all posting as individuals….
Instead gather together NOW empower yourselves NOW.
It is too little too late to put on Protests in London or elsewhere when the ‘ Budget goes down’ to the peoples of the UK.
The time for protest is Now before the Law is made…before the Budget.
In Australia, the Aboriginal people stayed protesting in the Capital next to Parliament House….this is the level of protest needed here…not just a stream of tragic and sad stories…each one has touched my heart.
Yet, the stories alone do not change a thing.
It is time for action on three fronts:
1. Visible ongoing protest in UK..at Parliament…and at the EU Parliament…without ceasing.
2. Solicitors to donate time for free to explore misappropriation of state pension funds.
3. Solicitors to donate time for free to bring action regarding HUMAN Rights to theEU Parliament.( DONT wait for this to come to their Human Rights Court however as the Law will be in place for some time before there is a result)
This is your time to rally….in all these ways…
One final point the British Empire was very good at applying ‘DIVIDE AND CONQUER’ .
Do not let this last remnant of imperial injustice squash you all.
We care full time for our severely disabled son and we have a couple of nights when a waking paid carer stop’s over, our spare boxed bedroom has his equipment in and changing bench and 34 packs of nappies(3 month deliveries) over night carer sits in here also which is next to his bedroom, we have been told we are NOT exempt from paying as his carer is a waking carer and not sleep in, my son already has to pay part of our rent as a non dependent which come’s from his EMA benefit,the housing dept said they could look into down sizing us, what use would that be we then wouldn’t be able to have any extra help in and he would have no where to put all his specialised equipment, this government just has not thought about this properly, I don’t know how we are going to find the extra needed, I don’t mind looking for a job if the government will provide 2 carer’s to come and care for my son to allow me to do this!!! And I no this ain’t ever going to happen because we do it all for nothing.
Your situation is just one of so many where it’s clear, as you say, that the Government hasn’t thought it through. Make sure you go to your MP, regardless which party he or she represents. MP’s are starting to make a fuss about this as so many are seeking help. It’s dreadful, so much more to worry about when you have enough on your plate already. So sorry you have to deal with this. We’re hoping those who are taking legal action will be successful but we’ll just have to wait.
my wife has chronic progressive m.s and are in diabled housing and have lived here 17 years since the house was built our chrildren are up and we lost our daughter here when 12 years old the house has been adapted for my wife and have made this house our home now we have two spare rooms i am her full time carer but am not aloud a spare room for her hoist wheelchair etc.or for me to have a good nights sleep.if we have to move this will probably make my even more unwell as stress wil make the ms.worse plus we would have to get all the adaptations all over again plus we would have to find the money for removals etc.p.s my wife is wheelchair bound.
I downsized 3 yrs ago to 2 bed flat(it was all that was available and let me free up a 3 bedroom house for a family. Now I am supposed to move to a 1 bedroom, pay this tax, or I could move into private accommodation that will cost the taxpayer DOUBLE what my rent is now. I have arthritis, asthma, hypertension and vertigo. I barely am able breathe at times. I rely on my family who live in the same street for help and support. They are on hand for me 24 hrs a day, for when I fall over or have difficulty in any way, and give me whatever assistance I need as I need it. I want to remain as independent as I can. I cannot afford to move again, I cannot manage to move again. As for the suggestion that I take in a lodger. Anyone wanting to pay to live with me will need to know I spend half the night Hacking my head off. I do not have a spare room, my grandchildren use it when they stay over to keep me company. After a lifetime of working when I could and caring for my disabled husband, 24 hrs a day for many years, I thought I would have some peace to enjoy what few years I have left until the ill health I have earned for myself, kills me. It would appear between this B.T and Atos assessments that will not be so.
I am disgusted, i have a three bed house as i got it nearly 4 years ago because my oldest child has a cronic pain condition which gets her up most nights crying witht he pain, and it was affecting her little sister waking her and causing sleep deprivation (which is a form of torture). Now i’m being told that because of this bedroom tax if i want my youngest to be able to have a full nights sleep i have to pay which is totally against her human rights as sleep is a normal bodierly function and she should not have to pay to sleep or go into a room with her sister and suffer sleep deprivation, i know this as i get DLA for my oldestest condition due to night time needs.
TOTAL JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. i thought it had been changed only a few years ago to allow a single disabled person, have a second bedroom to have a live in or visiting overnight carer? Has this changed or is it only changed if the carer is also the partner. Confused?
2. Politicians have this week been telling us to take in lodgers. Why isnt anyone asking them to guarantee income from a lodger will not affect benefits?
Hello this effects people who have been working from day one. They have to pay for council tax, rent, bills, dentist, eye tests glasses etc. The wages are not going up much anymore and yet people who work are expected tp pay more and more.
People on benefits have not payed council tax from day one. People who work pay council tax and people on benefits should as well. You all use the same bin lorry, Same people on the council and services as people who work.
So the end of the day when you on benefits you cant expect everything for free. You have to share the cost like people who go to work. The people who work pay taxes to look after people on benefits sickness or jsa. So its time benefits shared the cost with the workers to make things fairer.
Familys who work dont have a choice how many bedroom tax they pay. They pay it because they work no choice. People on the sickness and jsa havn’t paid a penny and had a choice.
Its tough now we all have to share the cost of living now. Also benefits in this country have been given to much for free. Its time to all live in the real world and share the cost of living like the working class have to and struggle to get to work and pay there council tax etc.
The people who work still have to go to work no matter what new tax or bills come in. People who work pay for everything there nothing free. Everybody on benefits have got to wake up and share the cost and start paying there way in council tax for using the samethings as working people.
Yes its hard and tough but working people have the same problems just like people on benefits. But I think its great now benefits are being cut and now being made to pay for makes it fairer on working people to all share the cost of living.
Thanks for that, always good to get people giving different points of view.
What’s important to me, though – and I say this as someone who worked for years before I had to take early retirement, and who doesn’t claim any benefits apart from DLA, which is not means tested and pays for my converted wheelchair accessible vehicle and some of the help I need to manage – is that by definition many of those affected by the bedroom tax are those who are the most vulnerable and least able to find the extra money. Most disabled or sick people would love to work, and most carers would love to work in a properly paid job, but for people who can’t work and are struggling to cope with serious conditions or onerous caring responsibilities this will be the last straw. Many are saying they don’t have anything more to cut apart from food & heating, and that can’t be right in our civilised society, can it? Most family carers work for way lower than the minimum wage (carer’s allowance doesn’t even provide the minimum wage for a 35 hour week, and most carers work way more hours than that) and if they didn’t do it, it would cost way more for the state to look after the person they care for.
I’ve always believed that a civilised society has a responsibility to ensure everyone has enough to survive, which is why this bedroom tax policy makes so little sense. There will be those who are unable to move, unable to work and unable to pay the extra rent. What would you have them do?
l was visited 2 weeks ago by T.B.C. and told l need to down size? l have been in this 3 bedroom house for over 35 years. My family have grown up there,and l have good friends in the street?So why o why do l have to move?l know l will go in to date cos l am on income support and have been for many years cos of mantle heath.But this it seams to make no differentness to the powers in white hull shame on you. The council have not the housing stock like other councils around the country so is this a bit mad on they part IT WILL NEVER WORK ON THE GROUND??????????????????
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England England Uber Alles!
My wife and I are on “Assessment Rate” £111 a week, we need:
£15 a week for electricity,
£15 a week for gas,
£2 per week for Council Tax,
£10 a week for Water Rates,
£5 per week for Television Licence,
£5 per week for Telephone,
£5 per week for Broadband.
Now Dave could say that the TV Licence is not needed, as we could listen to the radio, but then we get no chance to see his glorious visage!
So that’s £57 going out and only £44 a week to feed two people! Oh HANG ON – £14 a week bedroom tax!!!
So that’e £71 going out and only £30 a week to feed two people! HOW???
I have been told that I will have to pay this charge even though there is no 2 bedroom houses where I live to move me in to. I have many medical problems both pysical and mentel, i have a stairlift, a wetroom lower cupboards, handrails, grap rails ,intercome all cost alot to get done. I have lived in my home most of my life, I was born here then came back when my fater died to help my mum, when she got remarried I took on the tenency. Before I became ill never had any rent arrears, have always kept the house and gardens in good condition.
So what choice do I have? Go and struggle with all the upset and stress that will bring or stay and be unable to eat, heat my home? Very little choice either way. What the goverment should have done was put a cap on how much people can claim for housing benefits. There is a women in Kensington that lives in a 5 bedroom house but because she has lots of childern so fill the bedrooms she will get all her rent ect paid for her, this is wrong as only two of these childern where born here, she is now a single mother so gets everything paided for her.
Help. as I am becoming more and more depressed and really donot know how to cope and I am worried about the effect this is having on my carer husband and my son. Would they be better off with out me? Thats what I am beginning to think.
Surely this is discrimination at it’s worst? If other sectors of the community were treated in this way there would be uproar. As a person who receives disability living allowance (therefore classed as having a disability) then are we not entitles to sue anyone who discriminates against us? ie, not treating us the same as everybody else (including the government, local authorites etc). If there is a bedroom tax then it should apply to everyone not just people on low incomes who can least afford it. This is just another example of the capitalist tories showing their true colours which is to support those who are well off!!!!!
After all I thought “we were all in this together” ha ha ha
Just dont pay it i think that is the way to with this farce.
We live in a 3 bedroomed house and have a son who is over 16 so we will have to pay for the extra room even though my partner and i have separate rooms as i am wheelchair bound and rely heavily on daily morphine doses which means my sleeping habits are very erratic and my partner needs her rest to be able to care for me 24/7. I struggle now to negotiate my electric wheelchair around furniture and doorways so a smaller house would leave me rooted to one small corner most of the time. Surely someone has the money and knowledge to take this uncaring and unfeeling government to the human rights court.
The barristers at Doughty Street Chambers are working with solicitors and clients around the country. These include three households with a disabled member who were referred by us to Leigh Day, the solicitors we use in London. So the human rights barristers at Doughty Street are challenging this on human rights grounds. For your sake and for the sake of all the other disabled and sick people in this position, I hope the challenge is successful.
Were worried on how we will cope. My 4 year old son has developmental delay and possible autism but awaiting results at the moment. He is violent towards me, my husband and his 23 month old sister cos his meltdowns get so bad. Mentally he has a brain age of a 2 year old which in its self is hard. As well as my husband suffering from depression, due to struggling to find work and blaming himself for our son’s disabilities. My son is that violent he has to have his own room to keep himself safe and to stop him going for his sister during the night. We have a 3 bed house, and now they say we basically need to pay extra for a room my son has to have due to his condition is not on at all. We struggle on what we receive money wise as it is and with this going out as well will be a struggle for us.
Rather than raising wages and improving conditions for people in work, the tories do their usual trick of demonising benefit claimants, whose numbers are rising because WE ARE IN A RECESSION BROUGHT ON BY THE GREED OF THE BANKS.However, its easier for toffs and public school millionaires to pick on the peasants. So, the super-rich dont get a mansion tax but the poor get a bedroom tax, decided by rich men with spare mansions and fiddling the taxpayer to get spare posh houses in london. As always, the rich play, while the poor pay.The only answer to this persecution is to obstruct and protest and make the system break down, otherwise they`ll be hunting us with dogs, next,while arab zillionaires buy up London after all the pesky poor have been cleared out. PS How are all these benefit claimants supposed to afford moving costs? If you don`t get help with this, STAY PUT AND RUN UP ARREARS AND GET MOVED TO MORE EXPENSIVE ACCOMMODATION. Make the system break under the weight of its own cruelty and injustice. Be disobedient otherwise their will be no end to the ways the govt will find to pesecute you. Cameron yearns for a return to victorian values. That means poor kids working in neovictorian mansions. Working people shouldnt fall for the `Divide and rule` tory propaganda against `Benefit scroungers`-Without a decent benefits system, the minimum wage can be scrapped. The govt and media want us to kick the people below us as a distraction from the billions of pounds of taxes avoided by the real scroungers- the tories and their rich mates. If efforts were made to collect it, the so called `deficit` could be easily cleared. So, targeting welfare is just spite from a party of psychpaths. George Osbourne looks dead behind the eyes, like a shark. Him and his kind obviously have no empathy for the less well off, disabled and children who will suffer terribly because of their ideology. Lack of empathy is a feature of psychopaths and serial killers.
“…people with degenerative conditions who may soon need that extra room for a carer but not quite yet…”
Yep…that’s me… I have severe Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, type III. In fact, that’s one of the two reasons the council put me in my 2-bedroom flat to begin with – because they know that my condition is degenerative and I will eventually need constant overnight care. Right now I have only casual overnight care, nothing formalised or paid for, and because of that, despite my using my spare room for my electric wheelchair, commode and other equipment, I’m going to get slammed.
Somehow I have to find another £12 out of my ESA (WRAG) and DLA (low care/high mobility). I honestly don’t know how I’m going to do it, not with the extra council tax on top. I live alone, I can’t move anywhere because I’ll lose my support system which has taken years to fight for and get into place properly, and this flat has been heavily adapted to suit my needs. I don’t know how I’ll cut down any further on electricity, as I have to charge the chair, and my heating is electric too and I have this great whacking boiler I can’t get rid of or turn off because it costs more to turn it off and back on again than just leaving it on, and I’m already trying to use it as little as possible – I’ve been going to bed with a hot water bottle every night, thanks to my carers (3 visits a day to date as that’s all social services think I deserve or need…).
Honestly, I’m terrified. The only positive thing I can see about this whole situation is that it won’t affect people in private housing so I don’t, at least, have to worry about my disabled younger sister.
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I live in a 3 bedroom house with my companion(partner),her children have grown up and moved on..we`ve been here 15 years.Shes on benefits and claims for me,she suffers from severe artharitus,Fibromyalgia and asthma..i have mental illness,i`m a Schizophrenic.we are not lovers but companions,,we sleep in seperate rooms,i spend most of my nights fighting in my sleep,on the occassions
we have been forced to sleep in the same bed(grandkids staying overnight)i`ve managed to knock her head off,(good job she as more than one),i have a dog who is with me 24hrs a day,he wakes me up if i get to much out of control..but i`m my partners carer and shes mine..we are on the most basic benefit,we don`t claim any extra for carers ect..the 3rd bedroom is my all purpose,hobby room,as i hardly ever leave the house.
Putting us in a 1 bedroom is a bad move,i`1l probably injure my companion or even kill her in my sleep,i live on a very sharp edge,it`ll push me over to the wrong side..if i`ve no room to move,i`ll be forced out doors..they can have there money but i need space to live in..i can only see a future of crime or prison…who will care for my old dog,i want revenge…
Bottom line these people rely on devide and rule,come together in a on mass none compliance,if they want war so be it.
thousands of disabled people and their carers/families can cause major problems for these shameful,heartless and corrupt governments.
I want to start a campaign movement called Disability Fightback of complete none compliance,dont say its breaking the law because the government are.
Why dont the government put disabled people in concentration camps because thats what it amounts to.
Not only that the government is brainwashing ablebodied people into hating disabled people and label them lazy scroungers.
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I cannot believe this new so called Bedroom Tax. Most people now are living on bare money. How can they take £14 a week from people. This Government is a joke. Cameron should watch out, as some desperate peo[le may take their lives, there will be suicides i’m sure. Why don’t they take £14 a week from the rich who can afford it, or all the MP’s and Cameron himself. He won’t get voted in again that is for sure, but the next person as Prime Minister would still not abolish this tax. Once it is in and running, that will be it forever. I feel so depressed and all my friends too. At the moment it does not affect me as i am too old, but i feel it badly for those it does affect and find it truly unbelievable. As a person said, it is like the Jews and the Germans in 1939.
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Guy Fawkes had the right idea..(lol).
People,listen the government make policies to suit themselves.
They have the nerve to champion human rights in the third world but at the same time take away ours.
If you are disabled you have power you can shame these people by letting the world know what they really are.
Get out there in your wheel chairs and crutches,fight with peaceful protest,none compliance—remember love always triumphs over evil.
SHAME SHAME SHAME SHAME them!!!!.
We are tough one mean mother——,lets rock n roll.
People listen,you need to contact all local disabled people,get them to unite.
Contact anonymous uk,they stand up for injustice,fight!
The laws that have been passed can be overturned,we have human rights,we are being branded second class citizens.
Start a Disability Fightback movement near you.
One person alone cannot win this, thousands can,smother this,shame this,devide and rule them as they wish to on us.
Do not comply,remember DISABILITY FIGHTBACK,think we are weak,think again!!!!!!.
My partner has multiple schlerosis ,we have a two bedroom council house and have to sleep in seperate bedrooms due to hes bladder problems bed wetting ,i rang my local housing office to ask how this affects us due to hes disability and was told we would have to downsize to avoid the extra room rate ,i replied (so are you saying i am expected to sleep in a wet bed with my partner and she replied YES I AM AFRAID SO )
David cameron you are the antichrist !
THIS IS BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT GOT BUSTED FOR THERE EXPENSE SCANDAL,AND EVERY ONE WAS GLAD IT HAPPEND,I KNEW THEY WERE GONNA GET THERE OWN BACK ON US,EVEN KNOW IF THEY PAID A £92 FIXED PENALTY TO CLEAR THERE NAME (A GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD)£92 FOR ALL THE MONEY THEY SCAMMED,THIS IS THERE WAY OF PUNISHING US,DAVID CAMERON (HITLER)
I have just been reading some of the above comments.They are so sad, and I am able to empathy with them as I have a disabled daughter.in the same situation.I just cannot understand how any one can impose a tax like this. I believe that disabled people have enough to put up with, without adding more problems for them to deal with. The government should be doing more to help them, Why doesn’t Mr. Cameron set an example, let him live in just one house with the same number of bedrooms as he needs, move the royal family out into a one bed council flat, the same with the rest of them, and everybody else who agree with him.It’s nearly impossible to find any flats when you are on benefits.Landlords do not want to rent to those on housing benefits. That is another issue the government should address, make it illegal for landlords and agents to ask how one is going to pay the rent.
Has there been a petition against this tax,If not then can one be started.
yours faithuly
Thanks Christine. We’ve done better than start a petition – we’re trying to challenge the policy in the courts. The letter before claim has been sent to the DWP and if all goes as expected, the application for judicial review will be lodged on or before 2 March. My own view is that petitions are rarely successful, even those which generate more than 100,000 signatures. Taking the Government to court seems a much more canny move…. especially if we win!
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Surely we can all get together with other disability sites and push for a questioning in parliament under the no 10 web site signatures for petitions page to push for answers on why the gov think its ok to penalize disabled this way ?? I for one would sign this as would all 3 disabled in our family !!
I think that there is another point to make and that is that at the top of the letter which tells you what your benefit entitlement is it says “this is what the law says you need to live on” surely they are breaking their own laws by making you pay extra and not providing you with the funds to do so or is the government entitled to break this law.
I personally believe that Council Tenants who are forced to move to a smaller dwelling because of this bedroom tax should be paid compensation for each year they have occupied the family home. A good starting point would be £10,000 per year of occupancy. If this government wants you out of your home they will need to pay for it. Another problem that tenants may have is what to do with the excess household goods that won’t fit into a smaller house, i recon that councils should pay to have the goods stored until such times the tenant decides what to do with them. And as it is the disabled and the the poor who will have to give up their home, who is going to pay removal costs?. I haven’t looked into the matter but I also think that each individual has the grounds to take this matter to the Court of Human Rights and delay this bedroom tax for many years to come allowing us to get rid of this torie dictator
This is heading for disaster if your on jsa you cant afford to move. this is just going to cost more debts and more homeless
this might sound extreme but this is what we are being driven to do. Anybody living with a partner in a 2 bedroom house can say that there relationship has broken down and take the partner back as a lodger.Even if your married with children you can seperate and take the husband as a lodger, the lodger would then have the spare room. The law says a seperated couples can not have spare rooms to have there children to stay overnight so both are staying in the same house with seperate bedrooms so they can still see there children.
Where is this Anonymous UK office? This new regulations violates human rights to the extreme.
Cameron should be reported to the UN for violation of basic human rights. Disabled people of all ages,
the elderly, students etc. should all be exempt from paying council tax.
This is disgusting but no surprise from the terrible tories. What they dont seem to realise is we will find a way to counterbalance this ‘theft’. There is always a way, either working on the side, claiming jsa whilst working or by some other ‘bedroom tax’ dodge. In the end the ghastly government will end up no better off because we will claw the money back in other ways – legally or illegally, by moral or immoral means.
I suffer from IBS, Diabetes, sciatica, depression, anxiety, agoraphobia amongst other things.
I receive DLA and mobility allowance. My home is my world, my whole existence. I leave it once a week to do shopping but, only when accompanied by one of my grown children. I have no family in the area, no friends either. This is the only place I feel safe. I know who my neighbours are, I grew up here. I have lived in this particular house for 18 years and I brought my children up in this house.
I cannot put into words how absolutely terrified I am at having to move. It would have to be a whole new area as there are only 2/3/4 bed properties here. I am thinking of suicide more and more because of my fear and total depression over this. Surely they cannot get away with this? How can it be legal?
I just don’t know what to do, I am in total despair
This tax is so unfair been told I will have to pay the extra rent for my spare room which means get in to more debt or see my 2 kids hungry.nice choice have a roof over our heads and go hungry or eat and lose our home. I have said I would be happy to down size but im told I cant as a two bed will be to small when my boy turns 10 this yr as I have one of each. How they charge me extra for 3 bed if a 2 bed is to smzll
I am on ESA support group have bad arthritis fibromyalgia autoimmune thyroid disease currently waiting to see if I have a pitruittumor asthma am in pain consta year to win my appeal and now this. I wonder if we all took this o court of humAN rights we would win and what are they going to do if we all refuse to pay prisons are full up what would they do with us think it’s about time we fought this bloody government another Tory that doesn’t know what he he is talking about and doesn’t have told our lives
It was bad enough when the government brought out those scare mongering, victimising, discriminatory and exceedingly distasteful ‘health warning adverts’ on t.v that were designed to whip up hatred against smokers. The campaign saying that smokers were the same as people that put babies and children into cars then stuck a hose pipe connected to the exhaust into the window. The government were in essence saying that smokers were child and baby killers. All this without one credible bit of scientific evidence to support the secondary smoking myth. I asked the government years ago to tell what scientific evidence they used to support their bullying, demonisation and dehuminising of smokers, guess what I’m still waiting for a reply!All the government succeeded in doing was change me from a 20 a day man to a 40+ a day man!
The government must have gotten bored with victimising and making the lives of smokers hell, can’t even smoke in or near an open air phone kiosk, or even a bus stop, how the hell that fits in with governments guidelines definition of an ‘enclosed space’ god alone knows. Now the government are making people that claim housing support the new target for people to hate and loathe.
It seems it’s not enough for the government to kill thousands of disabled and sick people just with their new system for assessing people for benefits (the government confesses to thousands dying). I bet the real figure must be substantially higher. Cameron is now aiming right at the most very basic necessity, the roof over someones head!
I myself am classified as being severely disabled. I was one of those that seemed to slip through the ‘social services safety net’ and ended up having to pay over £2000 out of my own pocket just so I could get out of the house. For over 2 years I had to sleep downstairs and drag myself up and down the stairs to use the bathroom or bathe until I could have a stairlift fitted. Indeed I had to wait over 8 years for a ramp to be built so I could use a wheelchair. Now just as my house is approaching a livable condition I am being forced to move! Will I get back any of the the thousands of pounds I have had to spend because I simply could not wait any longer for people to get around to providing basic things I needed to do the most basic things?! I don’t think so!
Two of the medical conditions and there are a few, that I suffer from are potential killers, that is, a lot of people that suffer from either one of those conditions die. So the stress of moving might kill me anyway, that’ll save Cameron a few extra quid!
I’m not a psychiatrist, I’m merely a Professor. However, it seems quite obviously apparent to me that Camerons constant need to point the finger at someone or a group of persons and then whip up a hate campaign and substantially humiliate them and destroy or significantly reduce their quality of life, in a major fashion, is a sign of a rather nasty mental illness.
He is definately unfit to hold office and be in charge of this country and should be removed immediately. It’s been a while since I studied politics at college but I seem to remember that under certain circumstances Her Majesty the Queen can dissolve Parliament and remove the Prime Minister from office and thus force a general election. Your Majesty, if ever there was such a time and a dire need to remove a Prime Minister and protect the country and your subjects it is now!
I also call upon the member states that signed the various Human Rights Conventions and Charters to condemn Cameron and his actions and to bring him before the Convention Tribunal to answer for his crimes.
If anyone hasn’t yet organised a class action against this lunatic then they should and you can add my name to the list of victims.
Actually, the application for judicial review was lodged on Friday, you’ll be pleased to hear! An update will be posted very shortly
Thank you very much indeed for that Admin, that is indeed encouraging news.
The latest news and political rumours are that the Tories want to introduce legislation to ignore the Human Rights Act!
‘David Cameron is under pressure from Tory backbenchers to defy his Liberal Democrat coalition partners and press ahead with the abolition of the controversial Human Rights Act’.
‘Justice Secretary Chris Grayling suggested the next Conservative general election manifesto would include a pledge to repeal the Human Rights Act, Mr Cameron faced calls from Tory MPs to take action immediately’.
‘Mr Grayling indicated that the Conservatives could pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights altogether if they gained an overall majority in 2015′.
This is undeniable clear and concise proof that the government and the Tories have absolutely no regard for the human rights act and for peoples basic rights and freedoms. To put such a monstrous plan in their manifesto demonstrates that they obviously have such a low regard for people and think that voters are complete morons and will vote away any and all protections to their basic rights! Their own so called ‘Justice Ministers’ want to take away peoples basic rights and protections and prevent outside intervention to protetc them!
Judicial Review alone may not be enough to stop these monsters! This is pure nazism and something really major needs to be done to stop them.
Yes, the Tories have been obsessed for some time about repealing the Human Rights Act. Whilst they say it’s all about prisoners and terrorists, I’m not sure they like the idea of disabled people having human rights either. It’s very scary, I agree.
I have been waiting 7 years to be rehoused due to severe disability. I need occasional night time care and a safe room to charge my wheelchair but my Landlord have now told me that i am only allowed one bedroom. Which means that now i have to lose my only carer and will not longer be able to manage. Can i get exempted? Can i get help? NO. I have charged my Lanlord with discrimination due to this and the result? I have been told that i have no right to complain. Their words to me…”Prove that you are disabled.” So fed up with it all. Suicide is looking better every day.
Have you asked your local authority for an application form for a discretionary housing payment? I understand you can apply now, in advance, although the decision won’t be made yet. I don’t know if this is any help but unless our legal challenge is successful I can’t at the moment tell you anything else. So, so sorry it’s so difficult for you and for so many
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This bedroom tax is so unfair ,I had to phone my local housing office this am ,about this issue I’m disabaled ,I have been on housing list for a house to meet my needs ,they have none ,I’m in a 3bedroom house with stairs wich I can hardly do anymore ,I have to come down on bottom ,I have a night carer so I’m left with one room that I have to pay for .why disabled people and benefits have to pay they don’t even get a rise in benefits to help. The DHP payment if you get it only last 26wks .so we run risk of homelessness we will have to say HEAT! FOOD! PAY BEDROOM TAX! They are going to put so many people without homes within a year .
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Woohoo, game on!! The first shots have been fired. My Housing Association refuse to recognise that one of our bedrooms is below the bare statutory requirement to be classed as a bedroom. They are trying to force me to complete the DHB form and rebuked me for my ‘attitude’, lmao! They rebuke me yet they want to commit theft and charge rent for a 3 bed house when it is only a 2 bed! Tally ho!
The bedroom tax is the thin end of the wedge. Once it’s applied to the weakest members of society,it will then be applied via council tax to everyone, whether in rental property or owner-occupied houses.
Not only is it unfair to everyone on low incomes, it also ignores bedroom size. The vast majority of houses in this country that are classed as ’3 bedroomed’ actually consist of 2 bedrooms and a box room.
When I was born in 1949, my parents were ‘living in’ with my grandparents in a 2 bedroomed terrace house (outside loo, water pump in the yard, no bath).
My parents and I lived in the small back bedroom, which was just big enough for a single bed, while my grandparents shared the other bedroom with their second daughter, aged 14 and their son, 5. My parents applied for a council house but were turned down because the council decided the house was not overcrowded. We’ll be going back to these conditions, because the country is just too overcrowded to provide decent accommodation for everyone, just as the NHS is incapable of taking care of everyone properly – which is why there are so many disabled people in the country.
Not just disabled suffering. My son, 34, with depression and other mental health issues finds himself in 2 bed flat following marriage break up. Been trying to downsize for TWO YEARS but no council 1 beds available. Now has housing benefit cut for under-occupancy. Has been brought down from multi storey car park feeling suicidal. Has to get Salvation Army food packs as it is. I’m making myself ill with worry over how he will respond to being asked to pay £11 a week out of his benefit. He tries hard to get work but potential employers can get younger ie cheaper people on temp contracts cos they live with Mum and Dad. I am severely disabled and worrying about losing DLA and having to move out of my adapted bungalow. Do Government really think its not going to cause suicides, marriage break ups and exacerbation of health conditions to target the vulnerable at the bottom of the heap? Why don’t they care?
Does anyone know any pro bono housing lawyers or very, very cheap ones? My H.A are really being ******** and digging their heels in and won’t budge on the number of bedrooms issue. All they keep saying is that they are putting things down on my record, looks like they’re trying to paint me as being a troublesome tenant so they can get a repossession order and boot me out just because I dare to challenge them, it also gives them the excuse to talk to me like I’m something nasty that they have just trodden in pfft!
Cameron needs to simplify this equation: The HIGHEST E.S.A benefit per week that a person can receive is £105.05 per week. The people on this benefit are classed as being in need of support in order to work again and yet the letter I received about attending “support groups” just repeated more than 6 times that if I did not come to these appointments I would be SANCTIONED, meaning that I would lose my already low income and get a big fat ZERO to live on.
People that work should appreciate that we too still pay for:
GAS
ELECTRIC
TV SODDING LICENCE
WATER RATES
FOOD
CLOTHES
SUNDRIES
Do the maths we are not all dole bludging idiots who don`t understand when we are being conned. The above is already too much for that pathetic amount of money to cover. Never mind berating us any further by this mindless tax.The saying “can`t squeeze blood out of a stone” comes to mind. I agree with an earlier comment. We need to ACT not just vent although it does help. Get neighbours and friends to sign a petition and take it to your local mp. If we fight against it then they are f….. which is what we already are. Then perhaps they will stop trying to claw back the millions they invest in allowing people that aren`t even born here from US. You haters need to stop seeing people on benefit as the ones who deserve this DISGUSTING treatment on focus on where your tax money is really going?
To conclude, when even the most moral people amoungst us and yes there are shed loads start to invest in a bit of crime to get by, that bedroom tax is going to come to roost because cameron will have a whole new DEBT to pay to HER MAJESTIES PRISON for supporting us as we overcrowd our prisons. Not very well thought through is an UNDERSTATEMENT.
This guy needs a wake up call.
If the law decides how much you need to live on then when did Cameron become the law? He is stealing plain and simple from us folk who can least afford it. Robin Hood in reverse… I for one will not be humiliated and bullied into paying his debt. Who`s moat will my money be cleaning next? Certainly not mine! Let us not forget that this GREEDY government stole millions from ordinary tax payers to fund their lifestyles. Nobody made any scarey ads about GOVERNMENT FRAUD… They never set up phone lines to catch these CRIMINALS! Get real people, if we refuse to pay, how many people can they AFFORD to house in prison? When the door knock just don`t answer. They haven`t levied a tax on that YET.
Freedom of speech has gone out the window as I can see from posts taken off by those who deem them unfit. Can`t we be the judge of that. The minority here are making rules for the majority. Ring any bells? Let`s all just say how we feel and not fret about how we word it. When all is said and done this chat won`t change the fact that Cameron is the next Hitler. We have to ACT and fast people. Don`t let bullies rule the day. Maybe we are considered disabled or mentally ill and no doubt that impacts on us but we are still here and there are more of us than those muppets…….
I’m 32, suffer from severe depression and this site has really opened my eyes to the conditions disabled people cope with in the UK. Once I’m fixed I’ll be your flag waving, picketing, government harassing b****** for life!
None of the welfare reforms have been properly thought out. Disabled and long term sick folk keep getting lumped in with the druggies and lazy folks that we all see round and about. I feel like crying when I hear Cameron talking about the ‘hard working families’. I know that he doesn’t mean me. I’m meant to be shamed by his language, to feel guilty. I AM hard-working. The work ethic hasn’t left me. My family worked at the lowest level of the farming industry. I’m the first in my family to have gone to uni. I have a professional qualification. An IQ of 174 (no, really- folks don’t believe me- I have the paperwork). I’m a decent artist with an interest in languages. I’ve worked in London and China rather than stay home and be underemployed.
But I’ve now had 2 breakdowns. The latest really screwing me up and being surprisingly resistant to meds. I’m back living at home again and will have to move into overcrowded accommodation when I move with my mother and pets to my sisters right when she’s about to have her first child as my parents’ marriage has broken as my father has got himself a girlfriend in the states… My sister physically assaulted me in January. I have to sleep/lie down 20-23 hours a day. I can’t read more than a short web article. When I’m really bad I simply don’t have the drive to feed myself anymore. I haven’t drawn so much as a doodle in 9 months. I really make an effort to go to the gym or exercise 3-4 times a week when I’m not quite so bad as I’ve made friends at my local authority gym with super staff who are understanding and supportive. But feel immense guilt being seen out and about, looking very healthy (as I am physically) although I’m trying to suppress my suicidal feelings and not get too teary before I get there.
Call me ‘dole scum’ ala the League of Gentlemen. Its my way of putting on a brave face. But DON’T infer I’m a lazy scrounger. I’m trying to get through each day not thinking about how I want to be put down like a pet rat because I’m in so much mental distress I could cut out willing cut out 1/4 of my brain…
Sorry about that. Getting back on track- I do lack pity for the parents of Servicemen and women re: the bedroom tax. I pay £40 a month to my mum for room and board. I can’t get HB as I live at home. They get a decent salary so could easily pay their parents for the keep of their rooms. I speak as someone whose 2 younger sisters were both RAF.
The issue of disabled people with equipment, or having to sleep apart for medical reasons- that should be a non issue. Councils could send someone round and in 5 minutes verify their claims.
I also think the bedroom tax will trap people who want to move as where does the money to move come from?
I’m not so much in agreement about people putting lots of money into a council house to decorate then not want to move. In the private sector you have no security of tenancy beyond 6 months- you don’t have the luxury of even putting up a picture frame in many places. The idea of a home for life is, I think, unrealistic as needs change.
And folk who baby sit for their grandkids should get help from the parent/s if they need that space to have them stay over.
The whole thing should have been slowly implemented in steps, with fair notice given and clear guidelines on disabilities/ social needs. The private sector rules also need to be overhauled to prevent discrimination against those on benefits and to ensure more tenant rights. But the biggest fault lies with the local councils who have done nothing to build housing for single people and low occupancy homes. More homes would decrease rents in the private sector and in turn reduce HB costs.
And Labour can shut up too as they did nothing about the need for housing either.
Grrrrrrr!
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I am a single my and full time carer I have a 15 year old disabled daughter and no other children I live in a disabled adapted home with 3 bedrooms I have one spare room that I store my daughters bulky equipment and all her medical feeds … I am stressed as I know I cannot afford to pay this tax as I just about make ends meet … With fuel being so high my bills are very high due to wheelchair and equipment to be charged up …. I will have to put my daughter into care and give up her home and I have no gamy to turn to….. I will need to go to homeless unit while my daughter is in care .. I don’t think this is fair and I can’t work as my daughter needs 24 around the clock care and I don’t get a break … If I went out to work that means I wouldn’t get any time off and and I would be working 24/7 without any rest and would still have to get up every two hours during the night for over night feeds for my daughter …. The government haven’t thought this through properly and the disabled are being punished by the government … Prime minister should know how hard it is as he had a child with disabilities and sadly passed away …. I feel we are being punished …. How can full time carers work when we need to be on call 24/7
The goverment say this bedroom tax will force people to work, is he totaly thick, not are there hardly any jobs out there, but with the amount of immigrents being let in next year there will be nothing for any of us,how the hell does he expect anyone who cant get a job now to get a job then ? does he think we choose to be disabled and ill,, we would not be short of housing, or jobs if they stopped people coming over here to claim housing and benefits, so because the goverment have messed our country up, they are putting there big cock up onto the vulnerable, Cameron should be ashamed of himself, the amount of people who,s lives he has ruined since being in government, i would like to meet him face to face and ask him questions that never come up or if they did are never answered , i will be voting ukip, and hopefully then the housing, schools health care and financial help will be kept for the people of this country who the government have forgotten, as he seems to not see how there are no jobs, how disabled people need all the help they can get, how there are homeless and starving English people in this country,and how the elderly are going without the basics too, instead of giving to other countries and immigrants Cameron, look after your own first as i am sick of you your a twat
i too live in a 3 bed house im disabled i got a adapted shower room as i cannot get in or out the bath , i bid on bungalows but i find im either 18/19 on the list this so called bedroom tax is a ploy to evict you all , i heard the councils will pay £500 per room you give up if you find a home ,,,, but if we all found a home it would cost the councils thousands of pounds ,, so they know darn well we cant afford to pay the bedroom tax putting us in arrears so that way the council can evict us and because we did not pay the bedroom tax then say we made ourselves intentionly homeless so they have no obligation to rehouse us
Hmm looks like I’ll be looking for a wheelchair friendly, accessible cardboard box to move into soon lol. Got a bit sick of the Housing Association emailing me and harassing my carer with phone calls so I blew my lid and sent them the following email. It should put a few smiles on faces if nothing else lol;
Hello,
You choose to ignore me because you know damn well you are in the wrong, you creep around like the spineless, money grabbing cameronites that you are. How dare you have your lackies phone and demand our bank details and lie through your teeth as usual. I told you we are not damn stupid and still you continue to insult us by treating us as such, we know damn well there is nothing in the laughably called Welfare Reform Act that nullifies or amends the 1985 Housing Act.
I’m putting a formal complaint in against you miserable lot to the DETR and am writing to that joke of a tenants panel and demanding a vote of no confidence in you lot. You are, as you have so stupidly and arrogantly chosen to forget, a ‘Social Landlord’, and as such are supposed to operate under Charter in the best interests of the tenants, yet you lord it around and ignore and interpret legislation as you see fit to suit yourselves and promote your own money grabbing, greedy interests at the detriment of the tenants!
I told you we are taking legal action, are you too dumb or just too arrogant and blinded by greed to appreciate what that means, if you cannot act within the law and abide by the Charter don’t bother harassing us until our solicitor has been in touch. If that is too difficult to understand perhaps you could locate a mollusc that will explain it to you.
Liverpool council have followed the law and had to reclassify over 300 homes yet you sad lot refuse to follow the law, the law isn’t good enough for you, you think you are above the law. You make me sick
Heartiest disregards
Prof. Mack (disabled not stupid)
just logged on to see what properties my housing office says that i need there where 6 today most none are suitable for me 11th floor in a tower block ,, cant bid now till next thursday as i can only veiw what they offer once a week,,
i wont be able to pay the extra h/b so i guess i will be evicted from my home just in time for jan 2014 for the influx of immigrants who will no doubt get my house
ok peeps..
we are in a 3 bed 2 living room property which was specially adapted 15 years ago to meet the social care assessment after I had a stroke aged 30. we were asked to move ( with our 3 children ) so save the council money and they would adapt a smaller property , but this meant adding a small extension, to access the lower ground wet room and could, should i have another stroke and be totally ga ga , need a ground floor bedroom later on. Its a dining room .
we had a 3 bed 2 living tenancy issued, as it would breach the local council allocation policy to issue us with a 4 bed house and tenancy in 1997, we would have been under occupying.
Now they have “reclassified” our property as a 4 bed , purely for the benefit of the new bedroom tax, i have appealed , and they have refused the appeal. they are real shitty too. no offer of advice or guidance.
i am waiting to hear if our welfare rights worker wants to to carry on, frankly , i will , just for the hell of it, and they can shove their DHP where the sun don’t shine!.
tomorrow i am cancelling my fuel direct debits and my water , that’s £160 per month , which the bedroom tax for us will be. ( the figure of £14/£22 per is a farcically amount) our rent is £139 per week and 25% is £39.
if you don’t pay your water bill, they can not cut you off. if you dont pay your elec and gas, you can make an offer, pay something, then apply for a grant to help with the costs. frankly , i WILL not give the shites any excuse to evict me, we have a secure tenancy and they can not do it, i feel for my other half, when i die , and that’s not a remote possibility , as i am now in heart failure age 48 , ( no, i do not do drugs, smoke or drink alcohol, just “bad luck” apparently, oh and i don’t have a posh car or have SKY TV either) she will be in stook. that’s is what breaks my heart and causes me upset me. She has given up her career and her life to look after me.
yep this government sucks.
If you REALLY want to know why the bedroom tax was introduced and many more draconian measures introduced then do what i did and log onto http://www.paltalk.com and under the category of Social Issues and Politics then Government and Politics look for Lawful Rebellion go in there sit back and listen.(BE WARNED)what you will be made fully aware of are real TRUTHS to a deliberate agenda by ALL governments world wide kill off the elderly the sick and the disabled.Hard to believe? it was for me too till i realized the truth.Agenda 21 is NOT what the governments want us to believe.They are already killing off thousands of sick elderly and disabled on the Liverpool Pathways scheme.Toya Wilcox mum was put on it without her daughters knowledge.Whats been planned for a very very long time is now taking place and this has happened twice before in history both ww1 and ww2 countries experienced the same agendas as today.Feel free to remain asleep to whats going on if you so wish or wake up and see the real truth behind our totally dictatorship government and its very real evil intentions for us all.You have been warned do what you will with the truth if you can stomach it .
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cant cope with any of this already paying nearly 15 a week for sick non dependant on high dla im on sick with a daughter in college i have anxiety bad depresion just lost another sister before xmas both parents dead step dad dead im only 40 had enough . it stinks got to pay extra bed tax aswell . council tax i cont c much point in ever getting out of bed again
was told today i cant get d.h.p unless i can supply a letter from my doctor about my disabiltys ,, wasnt told that when i filled in the form
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Today the government say they want to help carers yet they expect my husband and full time carer to sleep on the sofa. I am totally bed bound double incontinent, can’t cope with much sensory input due to a chronic neurological condition and this is how my full time carer is ‘thanked’ and looked after by the state.
been refused dhp because my council claim im getting £12 more than i should be getting ? yet my incapacity benefit is just £112 per week out of that im told i have to pay £48 a week also £12 council tax leaving me just £52 a week to live on thats for food gas electric and other bills i was in credit with my rent now i owe £238 arrears to move i have to pay that in full ,,, wheres the logic in this